I have a brain fart that the medical community calls an Arnold Chiari Malformation. After decompression surgery in 2006, my brain is learning to coexist peacefully with my spinal cord in the cramped quarters of my spinal canal. With a real hole in my head, I am now free to continue the pursuit of life, liberty, and good coffee -- between headaches, nausea, dizziness, and seizures, of course!

The Bumbles host a movie meme every Monday with a different theme each week. This week's theme just happens to be tear jerkers. What a great one for me to begin participation with -- I am a sucker for tear jerkers! The more tissue I need to get through the film, the higher it ranks on my list. If the movie invokes actual sobs, it's an automatic winner for me. Which movies make you cry? Here's a list of my all-time best, bring a box of tissue and be prepared to turn on the water works films.

Fried Green Tomatoes: The secret of life is in the sauce, it's in the sauce! More than just a "chick flick," Fried Green Tomatoes is a tale of true friendship, sacrifice, justice, and self-discovery. My favorite part is the parking lot scene:

Somewhere in Time: This is a full box-er; no matter how many times I watch this movie, I end up a complete blubbering mess! Imagine a love so powerful that it can pull you across the barrier of time and when reality propels you forward to the present and you must leave your true love in the time warp, the grief over your lost love becomes so insurmountable that it kills you. But in the end, in death, time doesn't matter because you find that your true love has waited for you to cross that final barrier. Oh, please -- someone call the wahmbulance for me already!

The Joy Luck Club: "I tell you the story because I was raised the Chinese way. I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, and to eat my own bitterness. And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way. Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl, and I was born to my mother and I was born a girl, all of us like stairs, one step after another, going up, going down, but always going the same way."

The Bridges of Madison County: To heck with Josey Wales, give me Robert Kincaid any day! I've never been a fan of Clint Eastwood's films, probably because westerns just don't do IT for me, so it was with a great deal of trepidation that I first watched this movie. Another full box-er, The Bridges of Madison County convinced me that the older, the better Mr. Eastwood gets. Heck, he's a downright sexy old man!

I Remember Mama: If you haven't seen this 1948 gem, you'll want to add it to your Netflix list, trust me. I Remember Mama is a heartwarming story of a Norweigan immigrant family and their struggle to survive in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. Once you've seen it, you'll remember mama, too!

Charlotte's Web: Who said that animated films can't make you cry? Charlotte's death scene gets me every single time, and I watch this movie at least once a month!

Last on my list is also my very favorite tear jerker of all time, A Walk to Remember: It's not the death scene or young love that makes me cry in this film like you might expect. Instead, what brings tears to my eyes is the fact that I admire, and I mean genuinely admire, Jamie's character. Despite the merciless teasing and taunting from her classmates, Jamie hangs onto her faith, morals, values, and goodness, all symbolized by the sweater that she always wears. She doesn't give in to the peer pressure to be like the other girls, all of whom are mean spirited; she remains true to herself and because she does, her example, more than her illness and death, changes everyone around her.

A Walk to Remember, Somewhere in Time, and Fried Green Tomatoes are all excellent choices. Jane Seymoure is one of my favorite actresses of all time; I purchased a 'Somewhere in Time' collector egg from her decorative line (that also plays the movie's theme), and had the wonderful pleasure of meeting her. She's a class act.

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Anita Van Cise Willett, 1939-1976

Address in the Stars

I stumbled across your old picture todayI could barely breatheThe moment stopped me coldGrabbed me like a thiefI dialed your numberBut you wouldn't be thereI knew the whole timeBut it's still not fairI just wanted to hear your voiceI just needed to hear your voice

What do I do with all I need to say?So much I want to tell you every dayOh it breaks my heartI cry these tears in the darkI write these letters to youBut they get lost in the blue'Cause there's no address in the stars

Now I'm driving through the pitch black darkI'm screaming at the sky cause it hurts so badEverybody tells me all I need is timeThen the morning rolls in and it hits me againAnd that ain't nothing but a lie

What do I do with all I need to say?So much I want to tell you every dayOh it breaks my heartI cry these tears in the darkI write these letters to youbut they get lost in the blue'Cause there's no address in the stars

Without you here with me I don't know what to doI'd give anything just to talk to youOh it breaks my heartOh it breaks my heartAll I can do is write these letters to youBut there's no address in the stars